Methanol oxidation reaction on PtSnO2 obtained by microwave-assisted chemical reduction

Methanol electro-oxidation was investigated on PtSnO2/C based electrocatalyst in acidic solution. This study was focused on the use of this material as anodic active material for potential applications in direct methanol fuel cells. PtSnO2/C nanoparticles were prepared using a microwave-assisted synthesis. Physic-chemical and electrochemical characterizations were carried out by XRD, TEM, EDS, cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometric studies. TEM analysis revealed that PtSnO2/C electrocatalyst is formed by well dispersed nanoparticles with average particle size around 2.2 nm. The results showed that synthesized PtSnO2/C has better electrochemical characteristics than commercial PtRu/C for methanol oxidation. It was found that PtSnO2/C showed less methanol oxidation reaction onset potential than PtRu/C. The investigation of some kinetic parameters like Tafel slope and charge transfer coefficient showed that PtSnO2/C has a Pt based electrocatalyst performance associated to the bi-functional process able to oxidize CH3OH and COads, it is probably activated by the co-existence of SnO2 phase.